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Monday, September 13, 2010

Hoarders (and stuff)

What does it say about our society that (according to the program "Hoarders: Buried Alive") there are 3+ million people in our country that are hoarders? I would guess we would first need to describe hoarding to understand hoarder. According to the Webster's Dictionary, a hoard is a cache or stockpile. Of what is open to interpretation. You can hoard thoughts and ideas as well as objects. Going by that simple definition, we could say anyone that uses coupons to stock up on non-perishables on sale is a hoarder. However, I believe the show is using a 'hoarding in the extreme' definition more than a simple one. The point at which hoarding becomes a lifestyle hazard than a lifestyle benefit.

Still, the fact that there are 3 million people in our country that have this problem is a scary thought. Our culture is considered such a throw-away that we're having to retrain our brains to recycle. Then there are those who have overcompensated going the other direction. We need to be more aware of those around us so that we can help who we can. Running away from our problems never solved anything and generally only compounds the issue. This applies to more than just hoarding. Homelessness, child abuse, animal abuse, etc etc etc. So, what can we do about it? That depends on you. You take what steps you feel comfortable with and make what changes to yourself and those around you that you can. From those you affect, they can spread it to the ones they can affect. It only takes one person to start the flow.